The game of school in one of my placements is relatively unknown, except for a few instances. The classes I observe are run very much like the Japanese style of schooling mentioned in the Stigler & Hiebert reading in that the students are expected (and given appropriate time to) consider and formulate a response, before engaging in full class instruction about the problem and how it was being solved. Usually, after students had discussed how the problem could be solved, the teacher then corrects any misunderstandings about the material and shows how all the parts are interrelated and go together, while showing the solution to the problem. Students are able to think of a way to both solve and explain the solution to a problem. In my own unit to discourage inactive education, I plan to integrate activities that require critical thinking and discussion with peers. In order to solve a problem students must be able to consider a subject and defend their arguments with the class, which will encourage dialogue and eventually lead to a place where the educator can take over, highlight the correct features of a student’s input, and eventually show how this concept fits into the web of information the students already possess. Lab sessions, while a very easy way to give in to the Game of Schools ideology, also have a place to completely change it. In one observation, I saw a teacher introduce a lab, put students into groups, and left them to try and figure out how to set up the equipment. When I mentioned the students were having trouble putting together the track for a racecar during a physics lab, she told me today was an exploratory session so the class could figure out the mechanics themselves and have a better idea as to how to proceed next class period. In another placement, I saw how easy it was to give students the answers to their questions without even realizing you were doing it for them. In another observation I watched a period in which a special education teacher came to assist since there were five to six special education children in the class. Even during easy in-class projects, it was clear the students knew if they asked a question, they would receive an answer that required no more thought. While I was working with a small group of students I taught them how to use a thesaurus and they couldn’t grasp the idea of an adjective or verb to complete writing a poem about an organelle inside a cell. They did not feel the motivation to complete the work, and I understood how it would be easy to just give in and give them the answers just to finish the lesson. It very much reminded me of the example Fried gives when students have the best reader read to a group in class and do the majority of the work. With a very short instructional time per class and the pressure to cover a certain number of standards, it is overall much easier to show your students how to do it rather than having them learn how to do it themselves.
In my own unit to discourage inactive education, I plan to integrate activities that require critical thinking and discussion with peers. In order to solve a problem students must be able to consider a subject and defend their arguments with the class, which will encourage dialogue and eventually lead to a place where the educator can take over, highlight the correct features of a student’s input, and eventually show how this concept fits into the web of information the students already possess. Lab sessions, while a very easy way to give in to the Game of Schools ideology, also have a place to completely change it. In one observation, I saw a teacher introduce a lab, put students into groups, and left them to try and figure out how to set up the equipment. When I mentioned the students were having trouble putting together the track for a racecar during a physics lab, she told me today was an exploratory session so the class could figure out the mechanics themselves and have a better idea as to how to proceed next class period.
In another placement, I saw how easy it was to give students the answers to their questions without even realizing you were doing it for them. In another observation I watched a period in which a special education teacher came to assist since there were five to six special education children in the class. Even during easy in-class projects, it was clear the students knew if they asked a question, they would receive an answer that required no more thought. While I was working with a small group of students I taught them how to use a thesaurus and they couldn’t grasp the idea of an adjective or verb to complete writing a poem about an organelle inside a cell. They did not feel the motivation to complete the work, and I understood how it would be easy to just give in and give them the answers just to finish the lesson. It very much reminded me of the example Fried gives when students have the best reader read to a group in class and do the majority of the work. With a very short instructional time per class and the pressure to cover a certain number of standards, it is overall much easier to show your students how to do it rather than having them learn how to do it themselves.